Rainsford In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the main character, Rainsford displays clear signs of being a man of logic. Even at the beginning of the story, the protagonist acts in a calm and composed manner, distinctly showing how rational he is. When Rainsford tumbles off the yacht, he becomes stranded at sea, however, knowing there was a chance someone on the boat might hear him, he “wrestled himself out of his clothes and shouted with all his power” (15). Rainsford knew that it was pointless to attempt to catch up with the yacht, and that it would only waste what little strength he had left. It was in his best interest to try to yell out with the slim chance of someone hearing him rather than to waste his energy swimming. After realizing that the yacht was too far away to hear him, he analyzed the …show more content…
However, soon after, Rainsford encounters an even more difficult situation from the last. The antagonist, Zaroff, manipulates Rainsford into playing a game where "the Cossack was the cat” and “he was the mouse" (26). Despite the sheer terror he felt, Rainsford manages to calm down and rationalize what to do. In an attempt to eliminate or at least hinder Zaroff, Rainsford “stepped back from the quicksand a dozen feet or so, and, like some prehistoric creature, he began to dig” (26). Unlike all the previous others, Rainsford manages to gain the upper hand on Zaroff. Thinking back to all of his experiences of a hunter, Rainsford uses his knowledge to take advantage of the fact that he has made a Burmese tiger pit before. Rainsford does what no other human being has done before; using his rationality and sheer logic, he survives Zaroff’s hunt, the most difficult situation he has ever been through before. Therefore, by examining the way Rainsford handles tough situations, the reader can infer that Rainsford is a man of